At least 345 dead in haj stampede
2006-01-12 18:34
Mina - At least 345 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death and almost 300 injured on Thursday as they tripped over luggage in a scramble to hurl pebbles at symbols of Satan during the annual pilgrimage, Saudi officials said.
It was the latest in a succession of stampede tragedies to hit the haj pilgrimage despite efforts of the Saudi authorities to avoid a repeat of disasters like the one that killed 1 426 people in 1990.
At least 345 people were killed and 289 other pilgrims wounded in a stampede caused by "unruly pilgrims, and a problem of luggage", Saudi health minister Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Maneh told reporters.
"Today, just after sunset, there was a big rush among the pilgrims which led a group of them to be killed or wounded," he said.
South East Asian
"We received some 600 casualties, many of whom were transferred to other hospitals," said a medical source at Mina General Hospital told AFP.
Many of the bodies brought to hospital were from South East Asian countries.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel showed footage of the bodies of dozens of pilgrims laying on the ground, covered with white shrouds.
It was the last day of the pilgrimage.
Interior ministry spokesperson Mansur Al-Turki said the accident occurred "because of the luggage that fell and led to a rush at the eastern entrance of the Jamarat bridge", where the pilgrims stone three pillars symbolising the devil in the valley of Mina, east of the holy city of Mecca.
One Egyptian pilgrim on the scene told AFP: "Just when we went to throw the stones, I saw a huge rush and pilgrims falling under the feet of thousands of other pilgrims."
Risky
The stoning of Satan is the riskiest episode of the haj as the pilgrims jostle to make sure their pebbles touch the pillar while the weaker ones risk being trampled on by the masses.
A total of 251 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death in the 2004 haj as people panicked during the ritual stoning.
The stoning ritual, which is spread out over three days, marks the final part of the haj pilgrimage for the more than two million Muslim pilgrims who have flocked to Mecca from around the world.
In 2003, 14 pilgrims were killed in a stampede during the first day of the stoning ritual, and 35 died in 2001, while in 1998 the haj saw 118 killed and more than 180 hurt at Mina.
The deadliest toll of the pilgrimage was in July 1990 when 1 426 pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a tunnel, also in Mina.
Following a journey made by Prophet Mohammed over 1 400 years ago, the pilgrims this year flocked to the plain of Arafat south of Mina on Monday to pray for mercy in the central rite of the haj.
Duty
Before coming to Mina on Tuesday, many spent the night in the sacred site of Muzdalifah where they collected pebbles for the stoning ritual
The haj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a once-in-a-life time duty for those able to complete it.
The latest tragedy comes days after 76 people were killed when a hostel in the heart of Mecca collapsed last week.
Almost 60 000 security, health, emergency and other personnel were involved in organising this year's haj, trying to prevent the deadly incidents that have marred it in recent years from being repeated.